During the Spanish colonial era, the Californias (i.e, the Baja California peninsula and Alta California) were sparsely settled. After Mexico became independent, it shut down the missions and reduced its military presence. And the British minister in Mexico, Richard Pakenham, wrote in 1841 to then Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, urging him "to establish an English population in the magnificent Territory of Upper California", saying that "no part of the World offering greater natural advantages for the establishment of an English colony... by all means desirable... that California, once ceasing to belong to Mexico, should not fall into the hands of any power but England... there is some reason to believe that daring and adventurous speculators in the United States have already turned their thoughts in this direction."
But this was more than just a sentiment; this was part of a detailed proposal, with the plan itself having originated in 1837, whereby the British would agree to waive Mexico's crippling debts to British bond-holders in exchange for the territory of Alta California. A significant number of influential Californios supported annexation by either the British or the USA, but Pío de Jesús Pico IV, the last governor of Alta California, supported British annexation. Melbourne's government had purportedly been amenable to the prospect of going ahead with this proposal; but the time the letter reached London, Sir Robert Peel's Tory government, with its Little England policy, had come to power. And Lord Palmerston's successor, Lord Aberdeen, who was far more conciliatory towards the United States than Palmerston had been, rejected the proposal as being expensive and a potential source of conflict.
But what if it hadn't been left so long, and been rejected by Palmerston's successor- what if the letter, regarding the proposal, had actually been sent by Pakenham and reached Palmerston earlier; with Lord Melbourne's cabinet deciding to authorize the proposal to purchase Alta California in exchange for waiving Mexico's debts before the votes of no confidence in the summer of 1841 manage to oust him from power, and a royal charter subsequently being signed by Queen Victoria to establish California as a Crown colony, much as New Zealand had been less than a year prior? How do you feel that British California would fare in this scenario?
But this was more than just a sentiment; this was part of a detailed proposal, with the plan itself having originated in 1837, whereby the British would agree to waive Mexico's crippling debts to British bond-holders in exchange for the territory of Alta California. A significant number of influential Californios supported annexation by either the British or the USA, but Pío de Jesús Pico IV, the last governor of Alta California, supported British annexation. Melbourne's government had purportedly been amenable to the prospect of going ahead with this proposal; but the time the letter reached London, Sir Robert Peel's Tory government, with its Little England policy, had come to power. And Lord Palmerston's successor, Lord Aberdeen, who was far more conciliatory towards the United States than Palmerston had been, rejected the proposal as being expensive and a potential source of conflict.
But what if it hadn't been left so long, and been rejected by Palmerston's successor- what if the letter, regarding the proposal, had actually been sent by Pakenham and reached Palmerston earlier; with Lord Melbourne's cabinet deciding to authorize the proposal to purchase Alta California in exchange for waiving Mexico's debts before the votes of no confidence in the summer of 1841 manage to oust him from power, and a royal charter subsequently being signed by Queen Victoria to establish California as a Crown colony, much as New Zealand had been less than a year prior? How do you feel that British California would fare in this scenario?